Incident Overview
A hard landing during a night autorotation training session resulted in damage to the tailboom of a helicopter. The incident occurred while a commercial pilot under instruction was practicing autorotations with a 180-degree turn. Recurrent training was being conducted at night.
Sequence of Events
The pilot under instruction had completed three autorotations with a 180-degree turn prior to the incident. On the fourth autorotation, the helicopter was not aligned with the runway. The instructor pilot attempted to correct the alignment. During this correction, the helicopter touched down hard with the nose left of centerline.
Damage Assessment
The hard landing caused the tailboom to flex, resulting in wrinkles to the tailboom skin. No other damage was reported.
Training Context
The training was part of recurrent training for the commercial pilot under instruction. Night autorotations were being conducted, and the pilot had been experiencing difficulties keeping the helicopter aligned with the runway before touchdown.